I Know You, My Friend -self study-
by The PalletShipping Ninja
Summary: Harry Potter / Hogwarts AU. Anecdotes of Pearl's seven long years at Hogwarts, complete with her fumbling crush over an extremely attractive upperclassman. Rose/Pearl, Rose/Garnet, other pairings later.
1. My Courage

_a/n: oh my god i know there are already a few steven universe hogwarts aus running around but i had to contribute something, i love harry potter so much and i love the wizarding world setting far more than the actual plot itself so here i am to exploit it and shove in all my favourite characters_

 _naturally it is rosepearl, though there is some rosenet stuff in there too because you know how much i love that pairing too_

* * *

Pearl knew it was a long shot right from the start, but when she first walked into the Great Hall to be sorted, her eyes fell on the girl with the pink hair and her face heated up. It was her own unspoken secret that for as long as she could remember she had always liked girls far more than boys. It had been kept far more guarded than the original discovery of her magic, which she had confided in her mother at the age of seven when she came home with an enchanted mop that had come to life and started to chase her.

She knew girls were supposed to like boys, boys were supposed to like girls, and so on so forth, but that still didn't explain the uneasy attraction she felt squirming in the bottom of her belly as she spared longing glances towards the fourth year with the candy pink hair, talking to a black girl clad in a red and gold tie.

Pearl wondered how those two managed to get away with looking so pretty while the others around them looked marginally ordinary in the simple grey uniform and dark cloak. Pearl hid behind her first year hat, wondering when the comments about her nose would start. She often wondered why the world had cursed her with such a long, pointed nose, and part of her hoped that in the seven years she would be attending Hogwarts she would stumble across a cure for such an annoying trait.

One by one first years were being called up to the Sorting Hat, and Pearl was beginning to panic at the thought of sitting in front of the entire school while her fate was decided by a ratty old hat that held inside it a harsh, rusting voice. What if she tripped on the way up? What if she was pulling a silly face while praying to be put in the house that adorned the crimson and gold ties, just so she could talk to that mystery pink-haired fourth year?

Finally, her name was called, and she hurried forwards, thankful she hadn't tripped over her neatly laced shoes as she approached the seat. The sorting hat was lowered onto her head, and the teacher holding it offered her an encouraging smile – oh dear, did she really look _that_ terrified? - as she released it. Instantly, the voice filled her head.

"So, you're a nervous one."

 _Well, there are all these people here..._

"Still, it isn't like I'm holding a wand to your head. All right, lets see... you're a very intelligent girl, above average IQ..."

 _Really?_ Pearl blushed. _But that's only in muggle-related subjects. I suspect my current knowledge won't be much use here._

"Nonsense. Knowledge is fluid, not concrete – adapt it to a magically-inclined way of thinking, and it will flow as it did before. Some of the brightest alumnus of this school have been muggleborn. So clearly you are also humble and lack self-confidence – perhaps not a Slytherin, then..."

Pearl's gaze fell on the pink-haired girl, who was watching in earnest, though after a few moments turned to talk to her friend.

 _What about the red house? The people with the red and gold ties, what do I need to be to be with them?_

"Red and gold ties? Why, has nobody mentioned the four houses to you? Have you not read up on them?"

Pearl's cheeks flamed.

 _Er, I read up on the subjects extensively, but I might have missed the chapter on the houses. I haven't spoken to anybody yet, so I don't know the names of the houses._

"Griffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. The house you are referring to is Griffindor, house of the brave and the courageous. Without confidence, it would be hard to place you there."

 _But there are different ways of being confident!_ Pearl internally insisted, growing desperate. _I can be strong and courageous if I try. I can show her-_

She halted.

"Her, eh? You mean the one with the pink hair who you keep staring at?"

Oh geez, it really was obvious.

"You think you're brave enough to tell her how you feel? The outside world is cruel. Students spread rumours. The two of you have never even talked."

 _There's no point. The outside world is cruel anyway. Kids spread rumours every day. I was bullied for my magic back home, I'm used to people talking about me. It'll be okay._

She glanced over at the girl again, inhaling sharply as their eyes met. The girl was watching her meaningfully, her dark eyes pouring with gleeful anticipation.

Pearl had to be brave.

 _I like girls,_ she confided to the hat, and being able to say it to somebody else, even if the words weren't spoken aloud, filled her with a warm, intoxicating courage. _I like girls and I'm going to talk to her, even if I get laughed at. That is my courage._

The hat didn't say a word for a few moments.

"Bravery is admitting when you are afraid, and accepting things you are afraid of."

She had her fists clenched, praying, praying.

"Griffindor!"

Relief washed through her and she stood up all too quickly, head rushing slightly. The teacher beside her lifted the hat from her head, nodding with a smile, and Pearl's heart hammered in her chest as she stepped down and stumbled towards the Griffindor table.

She took a seat next to another elated first year and caught the eye of the pink-haired beauty, who now grinned at her.

"Welcome to Griffindor," she said, reaching over to shake Pearl's hand, and Pearl took it, enamoured.

"Thank you," she managed with a swallow.

The headmaster, with his long silver beard and smiling eyes, gave his speech, but Pearl found herself unable to focus on much of what he was saying.

The feast passed by in a daze, Pearl only nibbling at a small roll lathered with warm butter, before they were being ushered up to the dormitories. The girl with the pink curls said something flattering along with what sounded like some sort of code word before the portrait swung aside, and the first years were pushed through, some shoved out of the way by antsy second years looking to call dibs on the comfiest chairs.

"All right, first years, listen up," the girl commanded, and they all fell silent. She towered over the rest of them, only rivalled in height by her friend from dinner. "I'm Rose, and this is Garnet. The older years have been kept behind by the professors for some sort of briefing, so we were asked by the prefects to give your welcome speech. Welcome to Griffindor. People say we're the top house, the best of the best, but that's frankly a load of crap."

Quiet murmurings spread through the first years while the second, third and fourth years all groaned at Rose's unconventional speech.

"The houses were made to be equals to one another. Friendly competition is allowed, but if I hear about any of you tripping up Slytherins in the corridors or telling Hufflepuffs they don't belong here, you'll be answering to me. And, you know, the prefects. I want us all to be friends. You all look adorable in your squeaky clean uniforms and all, so I don't want to be remembered as the intimidating one who scares the pants off of you, but I won't hesitate to intervene if you're being arses to other houses. That clear?"

They all felt inclined to nod, and her face melted into a warm smile.

"Great! We'll all get along fine, then."

…

It was late, but Pearl still couldn't sleep. She had been tossing and turning for the past few hours (first years had ridiculously early curfews) and it didn't help that she was receiving the brunt of the cold draft since her bed was closest to the window. Grateful her mother had insisted on her packing plenty of thick slipper socks, she slipped out of bed, shivering a little at the cold, and made her way down to the common room. She sat down in the chair nearest the slow-burning fire, enjoying the silence for a few moments, before muffled giggles interrupted her.

Her gaze darted around wildly, finally landing on a long tapestry near the door, adorned with the pattern of a griffin. There were two wiggling, giggling shapes behind it. Pearl froze.

"We should go back to bed already, it's cold down here..."

"Mmph... but I've been waiting for this all summer, geez."

She knew it was wrong to be listening in, but from the voices... they both sounded female. Oh dear, oh god. Her face heated up as the noises continued, smacking kisses in between more hushed laughter, the odd whimper in between. Pearl shivered, her body feeling oddly warm, especially further down south, and she grabbed fistfuls of her pyjamas to try and distract herself.

Maybe she should go. It was a bad idea to-

The tapestry lifted suddenly, and she jumped up, ready to run.

"Hold on-" Rose emerged from behind the tapestry, and Pearl stopped, a deer in headlights, as the two made eye contact.

"Rose, what's the-" Garnet peeked out from behind Pearl, and stopped. "...matter..."

She trailed off, gauging the situation for herself. A timid first year had undoubtedly witnessed their little late night exchange, and if they didn't handle this carefully their secret could be blown wide open.

"You there. What's your name?"

Pearl swallowed.

"P-Pearl," she said quietly. "Um, listen, I won't tell anyone-"

"Good. It's nobody's business but ours."

Garnet's tone was firm, and Pearl shrank back instinctively. Rose glanced between the two of them.

"Garnet, let me handle this, okay?"

"Sure," muttered Garnet darkly. "I'm going to bed."

Once she was out of earshot, Rose turned to Pearl, steering her to sit down.

"She's mad at me," Rose said with a sigh. "She didn't want to meet in the common room, but I was being needy. And now she thinks it's all over."

"I-I-I won't say anything," Pearl stuttered, fumbling with her hands nervously. "I swear I'll keep quiet. I just came down because I couldn't sleep."

"I know you won't," Rose said, offering her a warm smile. "You look very trustworthy. Can I trust you to keep this secret for me?"

"Of course," Pearl said all too quickly. She hugged herself, not realising she had blurted out, "Y-You like girls?" until Rose had let out a small laugh.

"I do. I like boys too. Everyone has something different to offer."

"I do too," whispered Pearl. Her face was a rich crimson, blood pounding in her ears, heart racing. "I like girls too."

"You do?" Rose echoed, before her face split into a smile. "Well then, good for you. I wish you the best of luck finding your own happiness."

She stood up and offered Pearl her hand.

"What's your name again, hon?"

Pearl took it, noting Rose's hand was the tiniest bit damp.

"Pearl."

"It's nice to meet you, Pearl," Rose said softly. "Welcome to Griffindor house."


	2. Library Talks

_a/n: thanks for the feedback!_

* * *

After what had transpired the other night, Pearl thought it best to keep her distance from the two fourth year girls she had caught making out in the common room after hours. Even if she was undeniably attracted to one of them. Oh dear. So much for allowing a pretty girl to control her fate.

It should have been easy to make friends, but the other first years were all so... childish. She couldn't fault them for getting homesick, Hogwarts was a far cry from her home in Devon, but kicking up such a fuss that the fifth years had been forced to abandon their study group to comfort them? Yeah, that was pretty immature.

It wasn't like she wasn't used to this; being the third child of seven in total, she was used to having to be the mature one, and was even more used to keeping her head down and being forgotten by those around her. Thus, she continued to read up on the wizarding world for the next few weeks while everyone around her made friends.

Classes were easy to grasp, like the hat had promised her; once she applied herself, she was fine. The magic part was a little harder to comprehend, but potions seemed a lot like the chemistry videos she would binge-watch on YouTube with her sisters during visiting hours, and she took to it right away. Practicals weren't particularly difficult at this point, since the professors were only now introducing them to the basics, but the theory was something she thrived on. She had always loved to write, and the essays came extremely easy to her, although it was a pain having to handwrite things with a quill and ink instead of using a ballpoint pen, of which she had dozens littering her suitcase.

"Pearl, is that you?"

Pearl glanced up from the parchment she was beginning to write on – if one thing was for certain, she hated having to use rolls of parchment when she could be using lined paper instead – and met Rose's burning gaze, inches from her face. She flinched back, nearly spilling her ink.

"Woah – it's okay, Pearl, I've got it." Rose carefully put the ink back down again, screwing the lid on tightly to avoid more spillages. She took a seat opposite, resting her chin on her hand. "How are you doing, hon? Hard at work, I see."

"Y-Yes, I have this paper due on Friday," Pearl said hurriedly. "It's just a potions one, nothing big."

"Well, I have all my papers stored away in my desk in case any of the younger years feel like copying, I could always slip you one if you'd like," Rose offered casually.

Pearl shook her head. "Absolutely not. I can only learn through doing it myself."

"That's a good mantra. I wish I was as hard working as you are. I'm just looting some spare parchment from here, the scrolls from Flourish and Blotts are seriously overpriced."

Their conversation ran dry. Pearl glanced back down at her work, blushing a little at the attention Rose was giving her. These days people tended to ignore her; Rose was the first person to make an attempt today, aside from professors calling registration. Truthfully, Pearl had been avoiding Rose for as long as possible, chiefly because of the intimidating glances Garnet Aberra was giving her in passing. She knew she was to blame for the whole thing, although it didn't look like Garnet was saying all that much to Rose either. It had been three weeks, and Pearl was trying to stay out of their way in fear that one of them would blame her for their friendship (not to mention their budding relationship) drifting apart.

"Pearl? Did I do something wrong?"

Pearl's gaze snapped up to meet Rose's. She was staring at Pearl in earnest, trying to figure her out. She was nibbling on her lower lip ever so slightly, the sight extremely distracting to Pearl.

"Wh-What? No, of course you didn't, I-I just..." Pearl glanced down again, setting her quill down atop of her inkwell.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable when we talked the other night." Rose glanced around at the empty shelves (Quidditch tryouts were tonight, so most of the school were out watching people crash and burn instead of studying up; that said, this area of the library was scarcely used as it was). "I know how tricky it can be coming to terms with yourself. I'm not even out to my own parents, so Hogwarts is my safe haven. I know you said you were okay with it, but... I hope we didn't scare you."

"That isn't it. I-I'm not bothered by it, r-really," Pearl said quickly. She played with her hands nervously. "It's true that I'm still working it out, but... I just didn't want to seem like I was trying to get between you and Aberra while you were working things out. I think she's still angry with me."

"Oh, no, Garnet isn't mad at you," Rose insisted. "Pearl, Garnet is just... like that. She's a very reserved person. She knows it was our fault – we got carried away. She isn't mad at me either, she's just a lady of few words."

"Oh." Pearl was beginning to feel pretty silly now.

"It's okay, you didn't know. How about we invite you out to The Three Broomsticks some time, you can get to know us? Oh, wait – you can't, you're only a first year."

Pearl bit her lip. "...I should be in my third year by now, really."

"Really?" Rose leaned a little closer, intrigued. "Were you a late bloomer? Did you start going to a muggle school or something? Oh, I mean, assuming you're a muggleborn."

"I am." Pearl sighed. She suddenly found she couldn't look at Rose, opting to pick at a cuticle instead. "I was in remission so my parents didn't want me going to Hogwarts until I was completely cured. But I don't suppose you really know what I'm talking about. Do witches and wizards even get cancer? I know you don't have any cures to such things, my parents already tried asking the headmaster."

Rose moved to sit at the chair beside her, pulling an arm around her tentatively.

"No, just because we're magic doesn't mean we're immune." Rose frowned. "Wow... I'm sorry for asking, Pearl. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want."

"Thank you," Pearl said. Her face was red, she could tell. She hoped Rose wasn't looking down at her with pity. That was the last thing to screw her over. Well, she supposed she'd wanted the details. "Maybe one day. I'm only just past that chapter of my life, I don't really want to relive it again any time soon."

"Of course. Well, if you're supposed to be in third year, I guess you could ask the head of house for a pass to Hogsmeade? I'm sure she'd consider it."

"Maybe," Pearl said lamely, uncertain if Rose realised how overbearing the Hogwarts staff could be to a student on their file of 'special cases'.

Rose grinned, before glancing out of the window. It was nearing seven, and the setting sun cast a peach glow across the sky, tinting the clouds with the same pink of Rose's hair.

"Your hair is pretty," Pearl commented, before she could help herself. Rose hummed in amusement as she glanced away, berating herself.

"You think so? Thank you." She sounded quite pleased, really. "I'm actually pretty pleased with how this colour looks on me. I've tried a ton of different shades, mostly reds, but pink really does seem to fit best."

"I-I didn't realise witches and wizards had... hair dye," Pearl added, searching for something less ridiculous to fill the space.

"My dear, we have spells for most things, hair dye being a novelty. Some with higher success rates than others. I have to cast this one once a week otherwise my roots start to show. They're blonde so it's not really noticeable, but it's always better to keep a routine in check, don't you think?"

"Y-Yes, of course," Pearl said quickly. "You're absolutely right. Um, that's interesting, though. What year do you learn that spell?"

"Third year was when I learned it, but... I learned it as an extra-curricular, so to speak." She flashed Pearl a dazzling smile. "They don't really like students to dye their hair, but my family is pretty powerful and has some dirt on several professors, so they don't bother me."

"You're blackmailing them?!" Pearl hissed, wide-eyed.

"No, no, I'm not. My family are... not the nicest people. They have the details, that's all. Hence why the professors are keen to ignore my hair. I would never do that, Pearl."

Pearl wasn't quite so sure. Rose had this ambitious streak to her from what Pearl had seen in passing so far, and she had no idea what the limits to her determination were.

"Of course, metamorphmagi have the advantage of being born with the ability to change their hair colour, so there's not much the professors can do to be honest. So by all means do it, they can't really do much to you, but you probably won't be in their good books."

"I think I'm going to stay in the good books for now, thank you," muttered Pearl, the spiel on metamorphmagi going straight over her head. She'd have to read up on what those were later. She watched as Rose played with the end of one of her tight curls. "S-So you and Aberra really are still together?"

"Oh, yeah, we are. Me and Garnet are fine. She may have a cool exterior, but on the inside she is incredibly affectionate. She's just closeted to spite her parents, that's all. She's like, totally cool with you knowing, so long as you don't go spreading it."

"She doesn't blame me, then?" Pearl sighed a little in relief. "Well, that's good. I'm glad."

"She's a total softie. She'll love you if you hang out with us sometime. On warm nights we take a few rolls from dinner and eat them down by the lake. You're more than welcome to hang out with us then, if you don't already have plans with anybody."

"I'd love to," Pearl said quickly. "The truth is, I can't get along with any of the other first years. They're just so-"

"Childish? Tell me about it." Rose sighed dramatically. "I mean, they're cute, but I've never seen such a fuss kicked up by them the other night. I've already caught a few of them picking fights with Slytherins, too. After what I told them, as well..."

Pearl didn't know much about the hatred going on between houses, but now that she thought about it, a few days ago she'd witnessed a group of Ravenclaw boys running through one of the staircases, hitting books out of a gaggle of Slytherin girls' hands and laughing as their books fell down to land on a staircase several floors below. So apparently bullying other houses was a thing that still happened.

"Well, you're one person," Pearl said seriously, and Rose glanced over at her. "You can't handle the masses by yourself. That's the job of the prefects."

"A valid point." Rose smiled and stood, ruffling Pearl's hair. "I'll leave you to your studying then, Pearl. Unless you'd like to come back to the common room with me?"

Pearl nodded all too quickly, picking up her things and hastily stacking them into her arms, ignoring the fact that now she was holding the pile in place with her chin she'd undoubtedly have splotches of ink on her face.

"Y-Yes, of course!"


	3. Lakeside Feast

Why did her mother always insist on kicking up such a fuss?

When her phone had started to ring right before supper, Pearl had nearly jumped. She'd forgotten what it sounded like; her parents had promised to only call once a week after her constant pleading for them to stop being so protective over her now she was finally leaving for Hogwarts. Amazingly they had stuck to their word. Still, the sound was a lot more obnoxious than she remembered.

Their call had lasted nearly twenty minutes, and supper was well and truly under way by now. She doubted any of the vegetarian options were left (while she wasn't strictly vegetarian she did wonder if the elves who prepared the meals were certain of the quality of the meat they were purchasing, and after seeing a third year throwing up following eating some sort of pasty covered in orange dust she decided it'd be a lot safer to stay away from the meat for the time being).

"So you haven't made any friends yet?" worried her mother. "Pearl, you know that first impressions are lasting. You need to hurry up and put yourself out there, baby."

"I have made a friend," Pearl protested. "She's just not in my year. She's in my house though, so I still get to see her. It's hard talking to the other first years, they're all much younger than me."

"I suppose you have a point. But you _have_ made a friend?"

"Yes. Her name is Rose and she's really nice," Pearl said with a sigh, wishing her mother would hang up already so she could at least grab some leftovers. "Mother, please can I hang up now? I have to go to the hall to eat."

"All right, all right. I'm just worried about you, my sweet, that's all." Her mother paused. "And you're feeling all right? Nothing out of the ordinary?"

"I'm fine. I promise."

She bid her farewell and hung up, glancing at her battery. She chewed her lip, praying that there was some sort of spell for an electrical charge that could aid in reviving her only current source of communication with her parents from 11%. Maybe Rose would know.

As Pearl stood up, brushing off her skirt and reaching for her cloak to go down to the Great Hall, the door opened and Rose walked in holding a pink plastic container.

"Oh, there you are, Pearl!" she smiled. "I saw you weren't eating downstairs and figured you were hard at work again and missed the bell. Shall we catch a bite down by the lake?"

"U-Um, of course! I was just on the phone with my mom." Pearl shrugged on her robe, knowing it would be quite chilly this time of night. "Wait, you said you have food?"

"Yep! I smuggled some out from dinner. Me and Garnet do this all the time. It just gets so crowded in the hall, you know? Especially with the new first years and all. It's fine, we never get caught."

"You're sure?" mumbled Pearl dubiously, reaching for her scarf. It was mid October now, and the air was crisp and cold almost constantly, although the sun did make its presence known from behind milky clouds a few hours a day at its peak. "I don't want to get in trouble."

At first she expected Rose to laugh, but instead she shook her head fondly. "We won't, silly, I promise! Nobody cares, so long as you're back for the first years' curfew. Me and Garnet have a test coming up in a few days, a transfiguration mock for our OWLs, so we'll be heading back same time as you."

Sneaking out of the castle wasn't nearly as challenging as Pearl had envisioned in the tense walk down to the heavy oak doors. Nobody seemed to notice or care (there was no professor on duty, just a couple of Hufflepuff prefects getting all too close for comfort, barely sparing them a passing glance) as they stepped out, Rose carrying herself with an air of confidence. Garnet was already sat at what Rose claimed to be their 'usual spot', on a picnic blanket adorned in Griffindor house colours near the shallows of the lake. Garnet had her feet dangling in, her socks and shoes discarded off to one side, and her unfastened tie was hanging around her neck, giving the impression of somebody ready to strip and dive into the cool waters.

"Hey," she greeted as they took their seats beside her. Pearl perched nervously on the edge while Rose splayed out on the grass and loosened her own tie, setting down the plastic container on the blanket instead. It was then that Pearl noticed Garnet had already set up three separate containers.

"You're going to be stuck in the Hospital Wing with pneumonia if you keep this up," Rose teased. "Aren't you cold, G?"

Garnet shrugged.

"Compared to Quidditchamie, this is nothing," she said simply.

"Garnet is trying to become Quidditch Captain for Griffindor," Rose explained, noting Pearl's puzzled expression. "Quidditchamie is this European training camp for aspiring Quidditch players, it's this whole hardcore endurance thing, and only about 30 percent of it was actual games. Garnet was in Luxembourg all summer. Away from me." She batted her eyes woefully in Garnet's direction at that.

"You lived," pointed out Garnet. She removed her feet from the water, drying them on her edge of the blanket, before tugging her socks on over feet with toenails painted deep shades of blues, reds and purples in no consistent pattern. Pearl caught a flash of creeping black lace from the angle of Garnet's skirt and flushed a deep red, ducking her head and fiddling with her hands instead.

"I know, but I missed you," protested Rose, leaning in for a kiss. Garnet went to stop her, but Pearl didn't appear to be looking anyway, so she indulged Rose out in the open just this once before pulling apart the plastic containers they had swiped from dinner. Inside were a few bread rolls, buttered and still warm from the insulated container, quiche, salad, sausages, miniature pork pies and a few bakewell tarts from the dessert tray (how Rose had prematurely gotten her hands on those, Rose had no idea).

Pearl's eyes widened at the small feast.

"How did you manage to take all this without someone saying anything?"

"Oh, they say things, but they don't really have any power over us," Rose said nonchalantly, helping herself to a pork pie. "I mean, the prefects are too busy to care about stuff like that, they're pouring over practice papers and studying up on incantations, since their mocks are right around the corner. Other years are either too young or too tired to speak up, so we managed to get away with it. Probably one of the easier escapes we've made."

" _You_ made," Garnet corrected. "I just took what I needed and headed for the lake, nobody bothered me."

"Yeah, because they think you'll break their faces."

Their playful banter continued as they began to eat, and Pearl hesitated before reaching for a quiche and chewing thoughtfully. Truthfully, being outside with these two was a lot more pleasant than trying to make conversation with Rose over the busy din of the hall, while Garnet would sit off to one side reading a textbook on potions. They acted a lot more like best friends on their own than they had when she'd been with them in the past; though she hadn't spent much time with Garnet at all it was safe to say that in the presence of others she tended to close up, her excuse tending to be that she needed to study up for potions or they'd take her off the team (which was technically true, although apparently she was seeking out a tutor to keep her busy).

"How long have you two been together?" asked Pearl absent-mindedly, helping herself to a bread roll, and the two fourth years exchanged uneasy glances.

"Pearl," Rose began, ready to ask her to drop the subject, before Garnet spoke up.

"Not that long, although we've been best friends for far longer," Garnet said with a sparing glance towards Rose. "Since we arrived at Hogwarts, pretty much. We only admitted our feelings for each other towards the end of last year, though."

"Which makes it all the worse that we didn't see each other over summer," Rose finished dramatically. "Why, I sent her twelve letters, Pearl! That's two a week! I even had to borrow my mother's owl to do it. And what do I get? A single letter in return towards the end of August saying 'I'll tell you on the train'. Unbelievable!"

"I drew a heart too, Rose," protested Garnet. "A heart."

"You're always the one saying you're made of love, how can you claim that and then only send me one measly letter? Honestly..."

Garnet chuckled, a low rumbling in her chest, and Pearl realised with a tiny smile that this was the first time she had ever heard Garnet laugh. The notion was so warming to her that she let out a short giggle of her own, and both Rose and Garnet shifted their gazes to her in surprise.

"That's the first I've heard you laugh, Pearl," pointed out Rose with a grin. "What a rare sound."

"It's the first I've heard Garnet laugh too," Pearl deflected, and suddenly Rose was scooping the two of them into an awkward, crushing hug that made Pearl all too aware of the fullness of Rose's breasts, pressing up against her cheek and smelling so strongly of her it was a little intoxicating.

"Both of my girls laughing, how lovely indeed," gushed Rose, and Garnet and Pearl exchanged glances before grinning in earnest.

"'m trying to eat, Rose, maybe we can save this hug for later?" Garnet teased.

"Maybe save your food for later?" Rose countered, though she let them go.

With more playful talk punctuated with bites of their food, the feast slowly ebbed away into nothing more than empty containers and crumbs as the sun sunk lower in the sky.


End file.
